Motherwell goalkeeper Trevor Carson has reflected on a failed move to Celtic.
Motherwell goalkeeper Trevor Carson has told The Scottish Sun that links with Celtic in January were ‘quite surreal’ as he missed out on a life-changing move.
The Bhoys were relatively settled in goal for most of the season, but an injury to Craig Gordon late in January, coupled with Conor Hazard’s move to Falkirk, meant that Brendan Rodgers had to go back into the market for a goalkeeper.
A host of names were linked, including Freddie Woodman and Emiliano Martinez, and Celtic eventually landed Scott Bain on loan from Dundee on deadline day.
However, Celtic’s top target for the role was actually Motherwell’s Trevor Carson, as Rodgers targeted a move for his fellow Northern Irishman.
Motherwell rejected Celtic’s £375,000 bid for Carson, standing firm on their first-choice goalkeeper given that they had little time to replace him.
Carson, 30, was on the books with Sunderland earlier in his career before heading to the likes of Bury, Cheltenham Town and Hartlepool, heading to Motherwell last summer.
Carson impressed against Celtic earlier this season and clearly caught Rodgers’ eye, but a January move fell through, and it remains to be seen whether Celtic return with a new move this summer.
Now, Carson has told The Scottish Sun that the whole situation was ‘quite surreal’ given that he has been bouncing around England’s lower leagues, playing for clubs nowhere near the size of Celtic, and admitted that he feels he has missed out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“It was quite surreal for me because I’ve never been in that position,” said Carson. “I’ve been a lower league keeper over the years where your contract’s up, and you go and find another club. To have a club like Celtic after you, obviously you walk about a foot taller, the lads in training were all talking about it. It happened so quick. We had a game on the Wednesday night, the night the window shut. You’re only human. I was trying to focus on the game, but there’s still part of you checking Google and Twitter to see what people are saying.”
“I’m back now, and I’m definitely in a stronger position. The move didn’t happen, it might be once in a lifetime. I might never get the chance again to play for a club like Celtic, who knows? Two months later I’ve taken all the positives out of it, it’s helped boost my profile. If someone like Brendan Rodgers is interested in you, then you’ve got to be flattered about it. There are times when you can be too modest, you have to take positives out of things. I’ve definitely looked at the situation, and thought I must be doing something right if clubs like that are looking at me. It was great to be linked with a club like Celtic.”
“Me and my missus Rachel, for weeks after we played a game of let’s see what we could have bought! Let’s see where we could have gone on holiday! Obviously I haven’t earned big money in my career, I’ve been at lower league clubs. It would have been life-changing money for me and my family. Football’s such a short career as well. You’ve got to look out for yourself and your family,” he added.
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